Newsletter by E-Mail:
Appeal from the Presidents

Dear Colleague:

An e-mail version of the WSS Newsletter was introduced over two years ago and currently about a third of members receive it that way. This is of considerable benefit to the Society since it avoids the costs of preparing and mailing the paper copies, costs which account for a sizeable proportion of our annual dues. We urge all the rest of you who are regular e-mail users to take the Newsletter by e-mail. If you do so, besides helping the Society, you will have the benefit of receiving announcements of late changes in our program of activities, such as sessions organized at the last minute and changes to the schedule, and also announcements of meetings of other organizations.

The e-mail version of the Newsletter is sent to members as soon as it is available each month. Since there are no postal delays, you should receive the e-mail version up to a week before the paper version. In addition, the Newsletter is posted to the WSS home page: http://www.scs.gmu.edu/~wss/. Some members prefer to print it from the home page with its more attractive layout.

Signing up for the e-mail version is very easy. All you need do is to send a message to Vince Massimini at SVM@MITRE.ORG, asking to be added to the e-mail distribution list. If you are an ASA member, it would also be helpful if you could include your ASA membership number. That number is to be found on your mailing label on materials sent from ASA, such as Amstat News.

Please make the effort to send Vince a message now. It will take only a minute of your time, and it will make an important contribution to our Society's financial health.

BLS Building Visitors

All visitors, vendors and delivery personnel must enter the building through the First Street entrance. After verification, visitors will be processed through the X-ray and metal detection equipment.

Visitors traveling with the aid of a device, i.e., wheel chair, crutches, or cane, will not be required to pass through the metal detection equipment. Each disabled visitor will be hand screened by PSB security, using a hand held metal detector.

BLS Employees will not be allowed to escort a Visitor(s) into the building at the Ceremonial entrance (Mass and N. Capital end of building).

SIGSTAT Meetings

SIGSTAT is the Special Interest Group in Statistics for the Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) and the Washington Operations Research and Management Science Council (WORMSC). It meets on the second Wednesday of each month.

The December meeting of SIGSTAT features a demonstration of ActivStats. The meeting is on December 10 from 12:30 to 1:30 in the 2nd Floor Conference Room, 1800 M St, NW.

BLS Statistical Seminar Series On Confidentiality

BLS is continuing its seminar series on issues concerning confidentiality of and access to statistical data. Several lectures are planned for 1998. Members of the Washington statistical community are invited to attend all lectures in this series.

Abstract: The decennial census produces both population data (short form) and more detailed sample data (long form). Data are released in conventional tables and microdata, and through an electronic query system. The query system, DADS (Data Access and Dissemination System), allows users to create and receive tabulations via the internet. A variety of disclosure avoidance methods are employed on both the population and the sample data prior to any form of publication. The speaker will describe the 1990 procedures for disclosure avoidance and the changes proposed for 2000, as well as the problems posed by the electronic query system.

Please note that BLS has special security procedures for non-BLS employees. Non-BLS staff who want to attend this lecture should call (202-606-7374) or email (dewolf_v@bls.gov) Virginia de Wolf by noon, Friday, January 16th, in order to be placed on the visitor's list. Please provide your name, name of your employer, and office phone number.

March 26-26, 1998 -- Conference on Small Area Estimation, U.S. Census Bureau

This conference will feature invited speakers from academia and various government agencies discussing recent research on problems in the theory and practice of small area estimation. The conference will consist of sessions with 3 talks of approximately 30 min. each followed by floor discussion.

Speakers from academia tentatively include:

Arthur Dempster (Harvard)

Wayne Fuller (Iowa State)

Malay Ghosh (Florida)

John Rao (Carleton Univ., Canada)

The conference will be held at the U.S. Bureau of the Census, located just outside of Washington, D.C.

1998 Science Fairs

Volunteers are now being solicited to represent the Washington Statistical Society as judges in local area science fairs next spring. The WSS sponsors awards at fairs in Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the District of Columbia. Since 1986, WSS has provided special awards at these fairs to students whose projects demonstrate excellence in statistical theory or application. Those who have participated in this activity have very much enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the students and to observe the widely diverse projects which are presented. The fairs are held on a Saturday morning in mid-March to mid-April. The only time required is that one Saturday morning, plus one weekday lunchtime meeting to discuss judging strategy and to distribute the awards to be given out at each fair.

If you would like to be a WSS science fair judge, or if you would like additional information about this activity, please contact Lee Abramson at (301) 415-6180 or e-mail at lxa@nrc.gov by January 20. (If you judged last spring and wish to judge again this year, there is no need to contact Lee unless your mailing address or phone number has changed.)

Note From The WSS NEWS Editors

Items for publication in the February 1998 WSS NEWS should be submitted no later than January 27, 1998. E-mail items to mfeil@helix.nih.gov [Michael Feil] or fmc1@cdc.gov [Fran Chevarley]. FAX items to Michael Feil at (301) 443-4045.